Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at on 15 July 1925.
Miss Ellen Wilkinson
, Middlesbrough East
I beg to move, in page 26, to leave out lines 1 to 8 inclusive.
This Amendment is on a slightly different matter, and it is one on which I should like to ask the right hon. Gentleman to explain what he meant by the statement which he made previous to the time when I withdrew my Amendment on Clause 21 with regard to cohabitation. The right hon. Gentleman pointed out that what I was asking for would be covered on Clause 23, and I thought that was so, but I did not notice that after the word "conclusive" in page 25, line 44, there was not a full stop but a colon, and that over the page there were provisoes. There are three provisoes in regard to the award. People will not be able to make an appeal first if it is on a matter on which the Minister's decision is final under the Act; secondly, on any matter which by this Act is a matter within the discretion of the Minister: and thirdly what is obvious and what is already happening under Section 89 of the Insurance Act.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
As a bill passes through Parliament, MPs and peers may suggest amendments - or changes - which they believe will improve the quality of the legislation.
Many hundreds of amendments are proposed by members to major bills as they pass through committee stage, report stage and third reading in both Houses of Parliament.
In the end only a handful of amendments will be incorporated into any bill.
The Speaker - or the chairman in the case of standing committees - has the power to select which amendments should be debated.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
